71. Update South Bend Bikeway Map to Look Like a Subway Map

Existing South Bend Bikeway Map: South Bend has a lot of resources for its bicycle infrastructure, partners, and events via the City’s Bike South Bend web portal. The map below shows existing and proposed infrastructure, which presents a lot of options, but can be difficult to navigate as a user. A few weeks ago, City Lab highlighted an effort to turn these maps into something more intuitive for the users, especially those unfamiliar with the city.

Proposed South Bend Bikeway Map: While this map is far from perfect, it shows a first step in how one might make South Bend’s map into more of a transit oriented system. The map below breaks down into 7 routes that connect South Bend in different ways. The Red Line follows from the current LaSalle Trail through downtown to link to the East Bank and North Shore Trails. Riverside Trail becomes the Yellow Line, which connects the far Northwest to a loop downtown. The Green and Teal Lines each provide easy East/West routes, while the Black Line connects the southern portion of the City. Far from perfect, this brief exercise demonstrates one step into making South Bend’s bicycle infrastructure clearer and hopefully, helps increase usage. This is especially important as Bike Share and other transit oriented projects – like Transpo’s stop system – come to fruition.

For more information on the recent Bike as Transit Map idea, visit Spider Bike Maps.